For those involved in data-driven printing, other people’s direct mail horror stories can be a great resource for refining your own workflow to make sure the same mistakes don’t happen to you.

Here are three of the latest disaster stories from members of LinkedIn’s Direct Marketing Association (Official) discussion group. You might want to put down your coffee before reading so you don’t burst out into laughter and spit it at the screen.

When I was just starting my DM career, the blank spots for personalization were inside parentheses and usually had copy that said (insert name) as a reference for production purposes. You guessed it! When the material was printed, all the personalization spots were printed exactly as the original boards, i.e. with a salutation that said: “Dear (insert name).” It was just a test, but nonetheless, we printed 50,000 pieces that had to be trashed.

One of my insurance client’s mailings to home/auto policyholders for renewals also included “Dear Deceased.”

We lasered 11,000 (of a 150,000 run) before someone noticed the bottom line of the address read “City, State, ZIP.”

These are a funny read, but I’m sure it wasn’t funny when these things actually happened. The good news for us is that we can learn from someone else’s disaster.

Has your client checked its name field and cleansed it for “deceased”? What proofing processes do you have in place to ensure that variable field markers are not printed as text? It seems impossible until it actually happens to you.

So how about you? Got any of your own disaster stories to share?

This weeks super-cool fold was provided by Heidelberg – take a look!

The digital print revolution- and more so the advent of multi-media marketing that combines print, email and push messaging- has changed the way business speaks to its prospects forever.

 That the days of producing 20,000 of the same message, checking addresses for the longest record, sprinkling a few seeds into the list, reviewing one piece for quality and pushing the send button are numbered is a prognostication we’ve all accepted. For over a decade vendors have been extolling the virtues of variable data and one-to-one marketing with demos that often seem as miraculous as a Las Vegas magic show. And yet, the old one-size-fits-all direct marketing lives on in spite of the increasingly obvious shortcomings. The majority of the effort to sell marketers on variable data marketing has been focused on gimmicky creatives that spell a prospect’s name in shells to advertise a beach resort travel package.

 The exercise of bridging the gap between a flashy demo and putting a process in place that gives the marketer confidence that Joe didn’t receive Jane’s creative, or that the VIP pricing wasn’t pushed to the entire list, is rarely discussed.  Such questions as those below are rarely included in demos and many service providers end up wrestling with these as they move from demo to deployment:

1. How should information be gathered and managed?
2. How does a marketer proof variable data marketing?
3. What needs to be done to validate information?

 It’s often at this juncture between the flash and the process that variable data marketing fails or succeeds. Not surprisingly, it’s also where the most innovation is required and the hard work has to be done if variable data marketing is to become a trusted tool for majority of direct marketers.

By Julie Sullivan, VP Marketing W.A. Wilde

With social media being, well, everywhere, it was no surprise that it made its presence at the June NEDMA Awards in four new categories:

1. Best SEO Campaign
2. Best Twitter Page
3. Best Blog
4. Best Other Social Media (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)

What was surprising was the amount of entries in these categories – or lack thereof. Where competition was fierce in more traditional categories, there were only a sprinkling of entries in these new media categories. This is where I pause and ask the question, “Can someone please remind me, and all marketers, the true definition of direct marketing?”

From what I was taught and continue to practice, Direct Marketing really has two main principles:

1. Engage in a one-to-one dialogue with your target audience
2. Require your target audience to take some sort of action–call, click, move, you name it.

If you accept this definition, why is direct marketing synonymous with direct mail in so many marketers’ eyes? In the last five years or so, there has been no bigger trend than delivering relevant, personalized communications to build trust and credibility with your audience. For most companies that aren’t spending marketing dollars on broadband awareness campaigns, one-size-fits-all communications are passé–almost irresponsible in today’s marketing communications mix.

As a result, DR TV and radio, email, and yes even social media is about creating relevant, one-to-one dialogue with your target audience and motivating them to act in some way, shape, or form. If this is the case, why hasn’t direct marketing led the charge instead of being relegated to a category on the bar graph titled “direct mail” that decreases in size and budget year over year?

My plea to direct marketers is to strip the stigma of the red-headed stepchild that only creates unwanted credit card solicitations and rethink what it means to be a true direct marketer in this day and age.

How has your agency or company expanded the definition and importance of direct marketing for your business? Or is it thought of more as the dinosaur that used to have the stature of a T-Rex, but has shrunk to the size of a Flintstone vitamin?

The super-cool fold this week is from Monadnock Paper. It is a beautifully printed piece with very well executed finishing. Take a look.

The open gate fold makes a nice display piece or hand out – but think finishing at the beginning if considering it for a mailer. It is a real problem for automatic inserters.

This weeks’ super-cool fold can add a lot of interest to a simple mailer. Take a look!

Asymmetrical Triple Parallel with Short Foldout:

A few weeks ago I posed a question about direct mail providers and Transpromo on LinkedIn and got a very spirited response. The question was:

“Is the art and science of using transaction documents as a customer retention vehicle a threat to direct mailers or an opportunity? “

People took various positions, some positing that direct mail service bureaus (DMers) don’t know enough about data to take on transaction documents, others suggesting that transaction printers (TPers) don’t know enough about serving the needs of marketing to take on Transpromo. There seemed to be several consistent themes:

1. The business of marketing on transaction communications is growing.
2. Service providers who can offer both direct mail and marketing on transaction print (essential mail) have a brighter future than those who can’t.
3. Partnering, in the near term, may be the most effective and reliable solution for service providers and their customers.

I’ve included some quotes from the (much longer) LinkedIn thread below. Please join in and share your opinion.

“It should be an opportunity to DM service providers but their fear of effectively managing data makes it a threat for many. Some will steer their way through and then manage the relationships they have with DM customers from whom they can take advantage to deliver true TransPromo applications. Many will shy away from the opportunity and the challenge – for those I fear life will be short. “ James Shand, TriPartum Limited

 “I’m not sure most DMers can make the leap to transactional, let alone TP, which is much more sophisticated. Some can and have, but these are mostly different skill sets. DM firms in general have neither the IT/data sophistication nor the access to the right c-level execs in their customer-companies to get the buy-in and traction required to get the TP ball rolling.

Or spun another way, it would be easier for a transactional firm that does some good TP to expand much more easily into doing DM for its customers. And in that sense TP could be a real threat to DM firms. Now imagine a partnership between a smart DM firm and a smart transactional shop. That’s not a threat. That’s opportunity. “ Noel Ward, Managing Director, Brimstone Hill Associates

 “From a data standpoint, I respectfully disagree that direct mailers are somehow inferior in their data utilization. Show me a TransPromo client who is currently utilizing not only modeling techniques, but then further refining those prospective “buyers” into Deciles 1 – 10? Show me a TransPromo client who is effectively employing Lifetime Value scores for direct mailing and lead generation cross-selling? Show me a TransPromo client truly utilizing household-level data to understand both the attitudinal and the behavioral characteristics of the prospect, then – and then only – crafting the message to that household?

The key to success, from my perspective, is building relationships with partners who have the hands-on experience in developing, implementing, and then measuring every step of the way. “  Mark Weishaar, Direct Marketing Practice Leader at IBM/Ricoh InfoPrint Solutions

 “The key is for those companies who take on the data to have the skill set to manage the data, keep care of the data, and help the clients do more with the data. We find much too often companies who take this role on do not have the required skill set, and while a DM shop may have great skill in doing more with the data, they may lack the skill to take care of the data.

A Transactional Shop and a DM Shop have very different cultures, and having experienced working in both cultures, and attempting to integrate the two, they are both very interesting. It may seem simple enough, but they are typically at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I do see DM shops working on building up to being able to handle Transaction type of work, but it is not just about having nice fancy full color devices, it is about being able to manage the process, and the data.  

And we see Transaction shops working on adding DM capability to help fill in the valleys in production, but they to need to change how they manage the process of bringing work in house.

The change in business culture for DM to start work with TP type applications, even the standard transaction type applications will be too much for some, and it is the same on the other side of the fence, the change in business culture on the transaction side to work with DM type of applications, the cultures are very different, those that can make the transition can be successful, but it is not a simple transition for high percentage of the market.” Kevin Smith, Principal and Founder at Courier10

 “TP can grow as a way to communicate with and market to *existing* customers, but it doesn’t work at all for customer acquisition. That requires other mechanisms, including (really good) DM.

This is why a company that can do both, either internally or with a partner will be in a better position moving forward. Service providers especially must stop thinking of themselves one-dimensionally–that they are a DM shop or a transactional printer. Or even as a TP printer. Yet I see bureaus do this all the time. Success will come to those that can do more for their customers. The ones that don’t are gonna’ go away. “ Noel Ward, Managing Director, Brimstone Hill Associates

I’ll look forward to hearing what The Digital Nirvana community thinks of this topic!

A couple of weeks ago, Harvey Hirsh posted that we should “Stop Selling Rectangles.” He offered some great ideas and insights – but if rectangles are what you’ve got, you can still make them more interesting with folding and finishing. Here is one of the super-cool folds from the foldfactory.com archives. Let me know what you think and stay tuned for more!

Asymmetrical Triple Parallel with Short Foldout:

Barb Pellow posted an interesting article (free access) on WhatTheyThink last week that provides insight into marketing trends related to metrics and measurement. She highlights several case examples of companies that are integrating print into campaigns that include additional, digital channels. This multi-channel convergence is an important topic for our industry and this article helps to put the issues into perspective.

In addition, Barb points us to the Marketing Outlook 2010 from the CMO Council. I reviewed the executive summary (available for FREE) and found a few very useful insights. I then decided to purchase the full report.

Much of the report confirms Barb’s assertion about the importance of metrics and measurement. It also points to some key trends that impact agencies. Finally, the report supports the position that print service providers are, or should be, transforming into marketing services providers. Key points include:

1. Agencies are struggling to evolve as marketing and traditional media go digital in all areas of campaign execution and audience activation;
2. There is a power shift from master agency control of accounts to control by a more digitally empowered client wielding new partner and provider connections and resources;
3. The agency model is also threatened by new service providers such as IT integrators, consultants, and offshore business process outsourcing firms providing marketing data integration, customer analytics, predictive modeling, and performance measurement.

The study indicates that senior marketers expect to recruit more data analytics, strategic planning, interactive design, online advertising, and digital marketing competencies in house as well. There are changes coming in the way that companies conduct and measure multi-channel campaigns. You may find the full study worth the investment of $200 – I certainly did.

I’ve been told that I enjoy the process of reengineering communications way too much to be normal, but I’ve met my match in Trish Witkowski. Trish has taken her passion for a single aspect of communications – the fold – to a nearly obsessive level. She established a communinity of folding aficionados at www.FoldFactory.com where she posts a series of videos titled “The 60-second Super-cool Fold of the week” (soon to be seen here on The Digital Nirvana. )

But first, you have the opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation for Trish’s expertise and to learn why you should care about the art and science of the fold by viewing her recent webinar (with Sabine Lenz of PaperSpecs.com) on “Direct Mail Dynamics.”

View Direct Mail Dynamics Webinar

Happy Folding.

There seems to be an ongoing discussion about names and descriptions of things in our industry, particularly when it comes to the seemingly hotly-debated phrases “print service provider” and “marketing service provider”, as well as their acronym counterparts, “PSP” and “MSP”. Cary Sherburne sparked some debate last year with her post on Print CEO about “PSP”. There have been more recent points of discussion, as well. WhatTheyThink’s Peer Groups blog has discussed what encompasses a company that bills itself as a “marketing service provider”. On Printing Impressions’ blog a few days ago, Margie Dana expressed her distaste for printing companies that bill themselves as marketing service providers. Dr. Joe also weighed in, providing his thoughts on how printers should approach marketing services.

All of the aforementioned posts make a number of great points, some call for new or different terminology to be used, and others call out vendors and industry analysts/consultants (like myself) for causing confusion by instituting these terms in the first place. Vendors often use these terms to describe their clients, and I certainly have used them in many of my writings for InfoTrends, although I try to mix it up a little for variety’s sake. To be frank, I see the discussion about the use of these specific terms as a bit silly at face value. That’s not to say that terminology is not important, but I think this specific discussion really leads to larger issues that are happening within the industry, mostly dealing with structural change and transitioning that many print businesses have been going through. (more…)

Whether you’ve been testing multi-channel marketing or are onto your 50th project, you always want to generate the highest responses you can get. If you’re considering including outbound tele-marketing to confirm data accuracy prior to mailing a printed control, then sampling the data also gives you an opportunity to collect additional data both on the company and the prospect. All new data captured during this phase should be considered as part of the creative criteria when developing segmented mail drops and other contact points.

Another tactic is to parse your data for gender specific mailing drops. This requires manipulating the data for universal count breakdown to determine value of prospects by gender. The creative development portion should include variations of the print (and all derivatives) to include theme, color, illustrations and if possible, physical shape.

Here’s why.
Everybody responds to images that are familiar and it’s easier to imbed your message when the prospect likes what they see and have opened up paths to their frontal cortexes to you. I know, that really sounds insidious, but essentially, if your message does not get there, then you’re not getting the R.O.I. you deserve.
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Learn how to wield data
The days of static messages being mass mailed to untested lists are rapidly coming to a close. The mass communications theories of the 60’s are being replaced with the personalization technology of the 21st Century. Savvy marketers are enjoying the benefits of parsing data to version messages and illustrative materials for these segmented prospects. This clever tactic insures that the right person now gets the best pitch with the right offers, in a specific time whether in print or on-line. It requires that data is collected, cleaned, massaged and deployed.
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Personalized URLs in combination with direct mail or email campaigns have emerged as a valuable marketing tool. A Personalized URL (PURL) is a web page or microsite that is tailored to an individual visitor. A common example of a PURL is a web page with a URL such as www.retailstore.com/johnsmith, where “John Smith” is a target prospect or customer who receives a direct-mail or email communications that encourages him to visit the web page. For each recipient within the campaign, the web address is unique and personalized to the recipient. The content of the web page (PURL) should also be tailored to each recipient through the use of variable fields allowing pages to be linked to a database that contains information about each potential visitor.

PURLs are a stark contrast to a GURL, or generic URL, which is more common in direct mail and email campaigns. For example www.phonecompany.com/SummerSavings where PhoneCompany is offering the same call to action to everyone who receives a campaign offering discounts to new customers during a certain time period (I think I’ve received 3 this week!) If the offer is compelling and the design is effective, a GURL can work pretty well. But a variety of research (PODi.org, Aberdeen, Jupiter) tells us that personalization offers a significant lift over generic campaigns, but personalization comes at a price.
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